A facile method to prepare macroscopically oriented mesostructured silica film: controlling the orientation of mesochannels in multilayer films by air flow.

Mesoporous silica film with oriented mesochannels in three dimensions was supposed to have significant potential in preparing a new kind of optical or microelectronic device. Here we reported a new approach to preparing an oriented mesostructured silica film by just employing rapid and hot air flow. Based on this approach, 3D control of mesochannel orientation was also carried out.